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Adventures In Living With The Mythical |
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A military veteran is adopted by a werewolf and brought into his pack. Insanity ensues. About "Life With A Werewolf" Life with a werewolf is a dramatic blog. As such the characters in this blog are not real but maybe loosely based on real people. The situations represented are not real but maybe loosely based on real things that have happened in my life. There are a multitude of ways to view life, this is simply one of the ways I have chosen to view mine. Updated Every Friday unless I can't or don't want to. If this is your first time reading this...start here: https://www.writing.com/main/books/entry_id/1040400-Welcome-To-The-Pack My book, "Dreamers of The Sea" is available now on Amazon: https://a.co/d/0uz7xa3 |
| It had taken some time and effort, but we finally got Behring's schedule. Behring, being the head of The Nobility here in America, was a bit difficult to nail down. Most of his time was spent in L.A. and New York. He hated coming to 'fly over country' as it's been called and even hated more, having to spend time here. But, due to Roam's activities and whatever he had Crash up to, it pulled Behring away from important meetings with several heads of tech corporations. Meetings that involved a lot of alcohol and time spent on yachts of course. But important meetings, none the less. I do not want to disparage the efforts of Cecily here. She was the silent warrior in all of this. With a pot of overly caffeinated coffee on standby, she spent hours and days weaving her way through forums, blog posts, Reddit postings, and delved into private accounts in chat rooms, further into computer and cloud data, and finally had achieved her goal: collecting, then verifying Verner's schedule for his time locally. There's just no way to describe what she did other than in a couple of sentences. But those sentences do not do her effort justice, and I'm grateful she was able to get that information. But it took time, and while she was chugging coffee, listening to old rock and roll and Electro swing, I had taken Zack, Sean, and Kris out back to rehearse and work on our own part of the plan. Could have I gotten pistols? Yes. It would have been easy for me to use Roam's connections and get a couple more pistols, some silver ammunition, and had a little target practice. But, the thing was, I didn't want there to be shooting. Not if we were able to do what I had hoped we were able to do. So, instead, we practiced working with radios, working with traffic. Following and trailing vehicles without being seen. They wanted a taste of military life, and boy did they get it: repeating the same actions over and over, studying a single plan as many ways as they could until they were ready to vomit the details and started seeing them in my life. No one liked it, but I do appreciate everything the time they gave me for it. What I wanted was simple. I wanted a conversation. You don't exactly schedule a sit down with Behring. The only ones that ever got to his smug, GQ looking face was those in his inner circle. Everyone else was unworthy of his time and couldn't reach the 'alpha' under no circumstances. What's more, The Nobility regularly employs normal humans to work with them and their shell organizations, though none of them know what's going on or the truth about werewolves. That's how I knew this was going to work. Verner didn't care enough about the humans around him to recognize their scent let alone study their face. The day we chose to do it on, Verner had a meeting down town with some of the zoning boards, where he planned to throw his weight around. Then there was going to be a dinner. A limo of course would take him from City Hall to the three blocks in front of the restaurant. After cocktails and steak, he would then travel back to the office. From there would be a private jet flight to Los Angeles to help set up future workings in California. We didn't plan on Verner making the flight out to California. The city street we'd chosen was a quiet one. Standard traffic moved through, that cared more about sitting at Redlights than they did about the going on's around them. Many people get tunnel vision in cars, they see bystanders, but don't pay attention to what's happening to them unless there's a wreck or gunshots. Their tunnel vision would help my plan. Zack and Donte road together in one vehicle. Kris and Sean took another, and as our werewolf friend dined on the finest in rare steak cooked at the finest restaurant in that small city, Donte was dropped off. It was glorious to see an expert at work. The conversation went smooth, a handshake was completed, and the man gave Donte a hat and walked off. When I asked later what had happened, he said, "I just convinced him that I was there to take over his shift. He looked disgruntled and I got the impression he'd been harrassed all morning by that jerk." It did take some 'tools of the trade' to complete the job. I get the impression that 'tool of the trade' was a wad of cash. Donte walked over, opened the door for me and I got in. Easy peasy. Kris climbed in the drivers seat next to Donte. The other two continued circling. The plan was in motion. The limo was this gleaming piece of American machinery. A glorious tribute to excess and notoriety, built out of a German SUV. There was a total of six doors on it, a hatch back that did not open, and plush red carpets and red leather on the inside. The roof was some sort of fancy electrostatic glass, that at the press of a button went clear or turned to a dark gray. A fridge near the end held champagne. There was the obligatory television inside as well, and probably some game station or another if I'd bothered to look. Verner Behring didn't even recognize me at first when he climbed in the back. Just sat back, his good arm resting on the arm rest. When he did recognize me, see me sitting opposite of him, holding the pistol out towards him, he gave me a small smile, then pulled out the champagne bottle, and a couple glasses. Meticulously he began to pour them. "Last time we met," he said, "I was not a good host. For that I do apologize. Would you like champagne?" "I don't drink." He smiled. "That's right. You're pretending you're not an alcoholic. I keep forgetting that." I gave him a dark chuckle. "Alcoholics go to meetings. I'm a recovering drunk. How's your left hand these days?" "It's a good thing I'm right handed," he said. "I guess this is why we did not find you at home." "If you had called ahead, we could have arranged something." He laughed. "Yes, I remember. Trip wire. Paint cans was it? Did you copy everything from Home Alone in that attempt at home defense?" "No," I said. "Some of it was from 'Blank Check'. Did you get your butts kicked again when we weren't even home?" Silence. "Okay, I want to hear about this." He balled up a fist in his good hand and glared at me. "It's a good thing I'm right handed, you know. Though, next time we're in town we'll have to do more than punish your troll friends for all of the trouble they caused." "You what?" "Oh, cat got your tongue? Your troll friends. You took an arm, so I did the same. Don't worry, she'll survive. Probably." We glared at each other for a moment. Red anger flared up in me for a moment. Charles' family did nothing to deserve that kind of treatment. Kris clicked on the intercom. "If you don't shoot his smug ass, I will." "There is more than one way to fight a war," he said. His grin widened. "All of your friends will be punished. All of your family. We will cut you off from everyone and everything you've ever loved." I shook my head. Somewhere, inside, the laughter came. It built up and grew into this glorious loud, long guffaw that must have had everyone who could hear me scratching their heads. "I didn't think you were, but you are. Oh my God, thank you! Thank you for being so, predictably, empirically stupid! Wow!" "I am sorry, I am confused. Why is this humorous to you?" He truly was confused. He did the head-tilt and everything. "Because, you jackass, you're making moves. But, in classic, 'Nobility' fashion, you're making moves too late! Wow! No wonder you're getting your asses kicked everywhere." I had no idea if they were, but his face growing dark when I said that told me I'd gotten close to the mark. "You operate here at the behest of several organizations and politicians. Money talks, everyone knows that. You wanted to fight a war. Did you think my entire plan was to what, sit down with you in the back of some cheesy limo and watch you drink over priced champagne?" I sighed, heavily, and leaned forward. "Crash. His re-acquaintance. His boss. A few friends I have from my old occupation. Well, we've been busy. Meanwhile, you're hacking up innocent neighbors who's only real crime is being way too open about their sex life, we've been working." The full weight of my plan. It wasn't about a sit down with Verner. "You're right. There's many ways to fight a war," I said. "These corporations, you see, they just want to make money as quickly and easily as possible. If you give them a bit of a shove, they will stumble forward for you without you having to do all that much." He glared at me, "you didn't..." I smiled wider, "attack anyone? You're right. Did we talk? Oh, you bet. Don't worry shnookims, you're not the first wannabe warlord defeated with a few phone calls and a couple of afternoon meetings." He gritted his teeth, but he laughed. "If we weren't in traffic, I'd have torn you apart by now. But you are smart. You see, I've been a little distracted assembling my own little dossier, this one on someone you may know." As he passed the file folder over to me, it had a single word across the top of it. "Crash". "I was tempted to tell you his real name," Verner said, "but why spoil the surprise on that." I opened the file. The contents. Well, the contents wasn't anything I hadn't seen before. "Your friend has been a busy puppy," he said. "I'd say his body count is up to thirteen as we speak. If he completed his mission it may very well be at fourteen by now." The images were from Crash's recent escapades. He'd been a very busy werewolf, slaughtering other werewolves, humans, just about anyone that had power and pull in his organization in the area. He had been busy. I wasn't stupid. I knew Crash was capable. Hell, everyone is capable within the right circumstances. But, some of these attacks seemed more than over the top. "He was sending a message like he used to," Verner said. "That was his signature, you know? Mutilation. Shred the body, toss the pieces around. Create a scene so horrifying that even the local police would be terrified of him." I closed the folder. "So," I said, "it seems we're at a cross roads." "What are you going to do about your friend? Not so innocent, is he?" "Look, Verner, you haven't changed anything. You still have the girl." He rolled his eyes. "Oh, that runaway. What a mess." "What do you know about it," I said. "She loves Roam still. We haven't been able to break her of that, yet. She's not certain about living with werewolves anymore, of that we were more successful. But another week, week and a half, and we will have her right where we need her to be." I nodded. "More than one way to fight a war." He smirked. "Yeah. We will have our victory one way or another. The trolls you so callously lived with should be gone by the time you get back. This little girl will piss herself anytime Roam shows fur. And, you, well, we have our plans." I set the pistol down on my knee. "You see? This is growth. This is me growing. Five years ago, I'd have executed you for that. Now? Well, Let's just say I'm learning." "What does that mean?" "That means, you're even dumber than you look if you think I just stopped at harassing a few executives at home." Then I leaned forward. I pressed a button for the intercom. "Okay, Kris. Find a curb." As he pulled the limo over, I said, "this is what I will do. For every single person you injure or kill, we'll kill three. We'll go after them at home. I'll go after them at work. There will be no safe place for you or anyone in your organization. We won't kill the foot soldiers. We'll go after you. Your board. Every. Single. One." I held up the folder he handed me, "and this?" I tossed it back at him. "Will look tame when we're done." Then I opened the door. "More than one way to fight a war. Have Evelyn back in Roam's arms safe and sound by the end of business today. Or we start getting mean." "How much do you trust Crash?" I paused, then turned to look at him. He took a sip of champagne, then set the glass back down. "That's just some of what he's been up to. I know enough about your 'friend' that could chill the blood of even you. You go on pretending that humans and werewolves are just the same. That everyone should love each other and sing and dance together in blissful harmony. But the truth is, he is a monster. Hunting other monsters. What happens when there are no more monsters to hunt?" The champagne bottle was still in the mini-fridge, where he left it at. I shot through the door of the fridge. I believe I hit it, though couldn't tell through the hissing of the freon. Even Verner backed away from that. "He'll get drunk like the rest of us monsters," I said then slammed the door behind me. There's no telling if he ever heard a single word that came out of my mouth after I fired that shot. But, he had it coming. Kris and Donte got out of the front, and all three of us walked to the car following behind us. I let Donte grab the door, and grabbed Kris's shoulder. "No matter what you heard," I said in his ear, "he's still your friend." Kris gave me a look like I'd slapped him. "I know," he said back. Then, he climbed in the car and we left Verner to sit there. With his busted fridge in his limo, in a crappy neighborhood of the small city he was calling a home base. There's more than one way to fight a war. The best way, I've found can many times let you win without sacrificing a single life. On the way home, I was hoping and praying to God, the universe, or anyone listening that I had found that way. We'd never change Verner's mind. His way of thinking has brought him too much excess to ever think different. Hopefully, though, those threats did something. Hopefully he checked to find out that three of those companies had indeed backed off, that his back pocket politician was renegotiating the deal they made. All changes made with phone calls and lots and lots of talking. Most of which wasn't done by me. Would it even work? Time would only tell. What was we going to go back to? Time would only tell for that, as well. |
| What followed was a tale of woe. Roam gave us as good of a blow-by-blow as he could, fighting back tears through some of the more painful parts. Evelyn lost her father at a young age due to a hunting accident. Her mother was driven into drugs from guilt because of her husband and died of an overdose. Apparently there was some huge fight or something before he went to his tree stand on that fateful day and fell off. Evelyn was placed into a foster care system. The home was crowded with kids. It was a loving enough family who knew that they couldn't give Evelyn emotional care she needed. They knew that Roam and Tanika, being who they are and what they are, could. The call went out and they accepted. Then, the sunshine that was Evelyn was brought into their lives. All ninety pounds or so, of rage, and pain. Look, I know there's a Hallmark version in the story somewhere, were this little girl goes out to this farm in the middle of nowhere after losing her parents and finds acceptance and love in....blank. However, real life just doesn't work like that. It takes work. Actual hard work to fight through those dark nights. The pain and rage at God or the universe or whoever is responsible for ripping apart an innocent life. Evelyn had gone through all of that. Not was going, had gone through; thanks in large part to her new furry family. Roam attributed it to the first run through the woods he took her on. Her on his furry shoulders, moving at speeds at night that she'd only ever dreamed of. His face lit up with excitement as he talked about how her grip was tight with fear at first, then slowly started to loosen over several minutes until, when he was about out of breath, she leaned in and whispered, "faster". "She was a dream," Roam said. "I'd do anything to have my little Evy back." We all looked at each other. "I can help," I said. The rest of the guys nodded to each other. I turned back to Roam. "We need Crash, and the room please. There's a lot to discuss." Crash, and Sophia both showed up. They were in human form. Sophia had her arm draped over him the entire time. "Funny," Elouise said. "I don't remember us asking for the puppy." Sophia snarled at her. "You wanted Crash, you get me too. We are a team. Think of us as one unit." I looked into Crash's eyes when she said that, he winced at the word 'unit'. There was a lot more going on here than I expected. But, what? Looking around the table, I said, "Wars are fought on a few fronts. Political, social, and of course the actual battle field itself. We have few advantages here if we fight. Their goal is of course to," "Our goal," Sophia said, interjecting, "is to free you all from the yoke of The Nobility." "You mind keeping your dog on a leash," Elouise snarled. "Varmint's about to get her tail bit off." "Anytime you want it, lizard woman," Sophia snarled. "We will make handbags out of you." Gritting my teeth at her 'we' comment, I pulled my pistol out and set it on the table. "Go ahead," I said. "Kill yourselves. I have enough ammo in this pistol for everyone to get a shot. Execute yourselves right now. Cause this sort of in-fighting is exactly what that is. I'd rather you just shoot yourselves in the damn head and make it quick instead of bringing this bullshit out there." I looked at Sophia, "And I don't need fucking help. We're having a discussion here. A family discussion. You're here as a guest. So mind your manners, or leave." She gave me a dark look, but didn't say anything. I looked over at Elouise, who seemed as if she was mad at me. I'd have to smooth that out later, though. "I volunteered myself. But I need to know now, look every one of you in the eye and have you tell me. That you're willing to do this. Go out that door, take up a gun just like this one, and start killing werewolves. Start killing people. Cause if you can't do that, then please, stay here." "I-I want practice," Zack said, "But I'm in." "You'll need a driver, sometime," Kris replied. "Where he goes, I go," Sean said. "I don't want anyone fighting. Except maybe, you Jason," Crash replied from his corner. "I want no innocent blood on my claws." "We can handle this," Sophia said. "You just keep your pretty little heads out of the way while the monsters get to work." I stood and glared at Sophia. "Yeah, you're doing such a bang up fucking job right now." She glared back. "I'd like to see you do better." "Evelyn? Where is she," I asked. "We're working on that," She snarled. "Behring? Where's he?" I got silence in answer to that question. "Crash," Kris said, "You call us your pack, remember? We're your pack. We can't just stand back and watch someone else tear us apart." He leaned his head down. Sophia pulled him into her, looking at Kris. "Yes, you're his pack," she said. "But, if you get yourselves killed, you ever stop to think what that would do to my poor baby here?" "Behring's close," I said. "Get him to come out. We can," "He wants to kill all of you," Crash said. "Every one. Stay here. Stay safe. Please." I summoned as disappointed of a look as I could, and laid it on Crash. "You honestly think this is the first time someone powerful has hated me and wanted me dead? I'm like a cockroach. I turn up at the wrong times, spoil the party, float in the punch bowl, and always, always survive." "Oh yeah," Sophia glared at me, "what about them? Huh? Do they survive? How many times have you dragged them into danger?" I raised my hands, "Look," I said, "I'm not wreckless. I'm," "Yes, you are," Sophia snapped. "Crash has told me stories. He wants to stay away from you. You're dangerous." "Look, you walking, talking pair of overgrown pair of furry boots, Jason maybe a loud mouth, but he's our loudmouth, ya mangy varmint. Keep this up, you're going to get bit for your damn trouble," Elouise looked as if she was ready to go into battle right there and then. "Baby," Sophia whispered, in our earshot mind you. "You don't need this. Let's get going. Let's..." "Crash," Zack said, and pointed. "Outside. Now. Alone." He glared at Sophia. "And that means, this time, he goes alone." "I go with," she began. "If you take one step outside that door, I'll bite a chunk out of your hide and wear it as a hat," Elouise snarled. Sophia threw up her hands and stepped back towards the wall. Crash stepped outside. Zack, grabbed my arm, pulled me out with him. As soon as the door slammed shut, Zack held my hand up, "this," he said, "is the guy who saved your flea-bitten ass more than you can count. Yes, you saved him too just as many times. He's the reason why that Behring asshole has one arm, and we're still here as a family instead of in several different places with you, alone, lonely, or dead." He nodded. "Stand up to her," Zack said. "You can't let her dictate your choices. Be your own person." "You have no idea how hard my position is, right now," Crash looked towards the sky. "I can't just...losing you guys will kill me." "You won't lose anyone," I said. "I get Verner out. You use him as a bargaining chip to get Evelyn and anyone else back." It was a basic, easy plan. "You have a price on your head," Crash said. "Nobility hasn't done that in two hundred years. But they put a price on each of you." Zack looked like he had been gut punched. Me? I had to fight back a laugh. "Who's got the highest? Is it me? Tell me it's me," I said grinning like a mad man. "Of course it's you," Crash said. "But we're trying to keep you all safe. If they get their claws into you," "Crash, if you want us to sit in a room waiting for the end to come, then I guess they will," I said. "But, we all deserve a chance to at least fight for our lives." "If I'm going to die," Zack said, "I want to die fighting." "If I can help it, no one will die," I replied. Crash looked at me. "Jason, you have that look in your eye." "I think I have a plan," I replied. Zack and Crash looked at each other, then back at me and said in unison, "yikes." |
| The worst part of a battle sometimes is waiting for it to reach you. We were on pins and needles, listening to the chaos and carnage outside. There was the sound of splintering wood somewhere on the roof. Then a growl. A snarl. a sharp yip. Then a body rolled and fell to the ground. More chaos. No explosions. No real shouting. That's the part that seemed a bit strange at first. I'm used to explosions. Shouting. Hurried orders spoken over radio and shouted over the din of the battle. Instead, there was snarls and growls, a thousand chainsaws all started at once then stopped again over and over. We could only dream of what was going on outside, everyone too nervous to go near a window. The front door crashed inward, two werewolves snarling on top of each other, growling, and slashing. Elouise acted before I could. She grabbed the werewolf on top and threw it outside in a blur. The other werewolf got up, snarled at us, and then stepped out on its own volition. "Cecily," Zack asked. I shrugged. "Or Sophia." "Who cares. Mangy varmint," Elouise snarled, standing at the door. Her tail rocked back and forth, as she gave her own deep guttural growl that would chill the blood of anyone who grew up near gators. A low rumbling, clucking sound. The window shattered in the room I slept in. A roar as one climbed through. I raced upstairs, pistol drawn. Rounding the door, I raised my pistol. It was Crash. "You can't stay here," he snarled. "Come!" I took a single step. His ear tilted outwards, as if hearing something for the first time. "Wait." Turning his head, he looked, then disappeared. I went back downstairs to join the others. "We gotta go," I said. "Where," Zack asked. Where in deed? Werewolves were all over the compound. At least half of which wasn't friendly to us. One rougarou wasn't going to be enough to keep us safe. "We can't leave," Kris responded. "We're gonna," I began. Then I started to smell it. Smoke. I raced upstairs. The heat was enormous and growing. "They're gonna burn us out," I shouted, as I ran back downstairs. "We can't leave," Kris said again, his eyes going wide. "W-we can't..." Sean grabbed him tight for a moment, then stared at him. "I will never let anything happen to you." "As touching as that is," I said, "line up behind Elouise." She looked at me. "You take point," I said. "I take rear." "What if you don't have enough bullets," Zack asked. I shrugged. "Then it's like Kris said. I hope we give them the screaming shits." Everyone glanced at everyone else one last time. I gave them a single nod with a grim face and a small smile. Trying to look confidant in a Rambo way. But I couldn't help but feel like Weird Al playing Rambo in that skit in his movie. But, false motivation is better than no motivation, as they say. So I looked as tough as I could, nodded to Elouise to tell her we were ready, then moved with everyone as we stepped outside into the fire. The Rodriguez wanted a war, and well, they got one. Watching werewolves fight in open combat was a bit like watching bee hives in open combat. The movements was quick, far too quick to discern. They hacked. Slashed. Some ducking. Jumping. A wolf slammed into the wall in front of Elouise, snarled at her, then bounced up and dove into the foray. It wasn't like the werewolves were wearing collars with name tags on them. So my plan was to wait for them to attack before I fire. Elouise inched around the corner, where she ran into the wall that was Roam. "Wrong way," he growled. Then pointed a finger. "Go to the main compound." I glared at him. He lowered his ears for a moment, but didn't say anything. Just jumped back into the fight. It was then that I started to notice a pattern to the attacks. It wasn't just mindless jumping here and there. They were moving in maneuvers. It was coordinated. They had a plan. The Rodriguez pack had studied ancient Greek and Roman warfare. They were using common battle tactics of the time. Classic movements that are sometime still used today. Phalanx walls, but instead of a wall of swordsmen and shields, there was a wall of werewolves. Pincher movements. They were forcing ends together to try and choke off and cut off the enemy advance. Rodriguez had the brains. They had the tactics, and in many ways, the strength. What they didn't have was the numbers. For every werewolf the Rodriguez had, it seemed the Nobility had three. The sheer numbers was forcing the pincher movement to fail, the ends collapsing back into the wall. We moved as quick as we could. No more creeping. We followed the path back towards the main house, jogging. The battle around us hastening our steps. Ten feet to the front door. Then five. A werewolf attempted to ambush Elouise. She spun faster than I'd ever seen her move, striking the creature with her tail. "I'd say that's good for second base," I said. "Shit, that's good for a home run," Kris replied. "Nah, dude. She's getting up," Sean said. I fired a single shot into the werewolf. It jolted, then laid back down. "No, she's not." The Nobility wasn't as well maneuvered as the Rodriguez. But they had tactics of their own. After the pincher movement failed, they pressed inward on all sides. Forcing the Rodriguez back. They moved as one, going backwards one step at a time. I raised my pistol. Waiting. Of course I could shoot them. But, who was who? I recognized Crash on one side of things. He stepped backwards, gave a lone howl. Then the gunshot rang out. It originated somewhere inside the main house, but I didn't see where it came from. Two werewolves fell dead. The rest scattered. No one bothered to pursue them. "Lady and Gentlemen," I said, "I do believe we are officially at war." *** We had been seated at the table in the kitchen for over a half hour before Roam came through the door in human form. He was holding a bowl of soup with his hair disheveled as much as his clothing. He didn't look like Indiana Jones anymore. "We should talk," he said as he began serving the others. "So, talk." I looked down at the soup, then up at him. "This drugged?" A look of shame crossed his face for a moment. I was glad he could feel some shame. "I am sorry," he said. "But you have a penchant for sticking your nose in situations where you are not needed. I couldn't risk you doing that again." Crash came through the door. He was still in his werewolf form. "Stupid, stupid, stupid," he snarled. "Who's brilliant idea was it to," he looked towards us. Then back at Roam. "Alright, I'm fighting in your damn war now. Send them home." Roam smiled, "well, I'd like to, but their presence is still required." "He'd tell you, you could probably leave, Crash. But, I have to stay." Crash blinked, turning his head sideways in confusion. Roam turned pale for a moment. "You see, there's a delicate balance that we're...." We all saw Crash tense up as rage began to build inside him. It was Zack who spoke up first. "Crash no," Zack shouted. "It doesn't matter! We're in this now. Going home will just get us killed." He looked at Roam, snarled then stomped off. Each footstep sounding as if he was crashing through the floor. "So, that's how he got the name," I said. Roam gave my lame joke a polite smile. "No. I gave him the moniker, but he would literally kill me if I told that story." "Alright," Elouise said, "Speak your damn piece." "Well," Roam pulled up a chair, holding a small bowl of soup of his own. "You see, wars are fought on two fronts. The Nobility out maneuvered us politically. They backed the correct candidates, had laws passed. We were backed into a corner, despite having pushed them off this continent." "So, you picked a fight," I said. "Finally, yes," Roam replied. I stood and turned towards the window. I wasn't seeing him, or the outside. I was a thousand miles away, looking at faces I had to say goodbye to beneath a hail of bullets. The politicians never seemed to care much about who they drag into their little territorial pissing matches. They only care about looking good in front of the body bags and caskets. Crying on cue as they walk through hospitals filled with broken bodies as they hand out medals to men and women who fought for them without a second thought. About making empty promises to wounded and grieving families sitting in front of flowers and gravestones as the rest of the world watches on. Why can't we bring back dueling? We could set a tournament up in the middle of the U.N. for the competing politicians. The two nations that have a disagreement, instead of them doing it with thousands of people, disrupting their lives and causing chaos, death and destruction, they can just do between themselves. Pistols at ten paces. Televise it live on cable news so everybody wins and gets what they want. Why do they always have to bring us into their fights? We sit eating food out of plastic bags in metal boxes in extreme heat and cold in fifty pounds or more of gear and armor while they eat prime rib, shrimp, and caviar and sip champagne while they proclaim how much they understand our struggle. Why can't they for once fight for their fucking selves? This is a rant that I, for once, kept my mouth shut on. Instead, I turned and looked at Roam. I'm not sure what was in my eye, but it made him do a double take. "You wanted us to fight? Well, I'm always willing." I leaned forward, and glared at him. "But even Uncle Sam was kind enough to ask first. He didn't lie to me to get me to do it. You, on the other hand, have lied to and manipulated us the entire fucking time. So, you're going to ask us. Ask us to fucking fight for you. Stop lying and just ask us." He pushed his bowl forward, sighed and said, "okay. I suppose it was wrong of me to try and be sly with someone incapable of trusting anyone." I grimaced, but otherwise let his comment slide. He continued. "Will you please, for the love of God and everything that is holy, help me save my daughter?" There was a look of real pain on his face as a tear formed in his eye. "Please?" |
| The military does not make you patient. That's a misnomer that I've heard a time or two. It merely makes you good at waiting. The old saying goes, "Hurry up and wait." That's what we were doing. We had been shuffled off to our rooms, locked in, and forced to wait. We weren't doing it patiently. My hip woke me up. It was in pain, but the throbbing dull kind of ache that makes you wish you hadn't bothered with this whole thing called 'being awake'. I stood and hobbled a bit, first checking my pistol. It was there, thankfully. Clips fully loaded, giving me a grand total of thirty six shots. Each bullet silver. Downstairs a folding table was set up with food on it. Paper plates with paper plate toppers to keep food lukewarm, with our names written in sharpie across the top. I half walked, half stumbled down the stairs, each jolt sending fresh pain into me waking me up a little more. If I couldn't have caffeine to keep me moving, at least I had anger and pain. It was starting to feel a whole lot more like military service. It was almost like prison, in a sense. We stood around. We waited. We talked. Elouise visited me sometime after microwaved eggs but before microwaved burgers. I swear, whoever thought they were "cooking" for us, I'm going to find them, tie them down, and force them to watch a marathon of "Good Eats" until they know how to fry an egg and a burger. "What you think this is about," she asked. "How much you want to bet we're being bugged," I replied. She shrugged. "Does it matter?" "Well, I suppose not. Hi Cecily!" I said, waving at a wall where I suspected a camera to be. I could imagine her snarling at the screen in frustration, and that made me smile for a moment. "Let's tip our hand a little," I said. "This is part of what I know. The Nobility are not in active war with The Rodriguez clan." She arched an eyebrow. "That's right Cecily," I said louder. "I don't believe you two are actually fighting. A truce has been reached. That's why Donte and Killian are never together in the same damn place. They're trading off. The Nobility has them. And you get...who? That's what I've been wondering all morning. That's part of what I believe I have figured out." Elouise paced a bit, and smiled. "It sort of reminds me of that old movie, 'The Godfather', in a way, doesn't it?" "Yeah," I said. "They...." That's when everything began to fall into place. "Oh, shit," I said, my eyes widening. "What," Elouise asked. "You're going to have to put on your gator boots." "What the hell is going on," Elouise snarled. I thought about whispering, but they'd hear us anyway. "Damn werewolf ears," I snarled, and looked at Kris, who was wiping sleep from his eyes as he leaned against Sean. Zack grumbled, but crossed his arms. "Shit, they're going to know anyway," I snarled. "No wonder they tossed me back in here last night." "Jason," Kris yawned, then said, "can you pretend for a moment that we have no clue what you're talking about and tell us what's going on?" "The Nobility," I said. "This was all about the Nobility. Think about it. Sophia being dead but not. Her just showing up, but never quite sticking around. Constantly disappearing with Crash. And Killian and Donte always disappearing too." "You're not making sense," Elouise said. "What do those jokers have anything to do with anythin?" "Because," I said looking at her. "They're supposedly at war, right?" Elouise nodded. Then paused. "You know, I ain't seen a single attack." "There was that one," Zack said. "We were all in the car for that a few hours ago." "Yeah, with two werewolves. No dead werewolves from that, and they didn't grab a single one of us. Remember a few months back that was the first thing the Nobility did. They grabbed Crash. Then they grabbed all of us." "Yeah," Elouise said, "it was pretty strange how...tame the werewolf attack seemed." I snapped my fingers and pointed at her. "Exactly! It was loud, but there wasn't any blood. No snarling. Almost like it was staged. Not a real attack. And you can't have a war without attacks, can you?" "Well," Sean smiled sheepishly a bit, "there is that war that Canada fought with Whiskey." We all stared at Sean, who's sheepish smile widened. "It's like, true! I swear, dude. They go to this island, and then put a bottle of whiskey down and their flag. Then they leave and the other side, I think it was Danish, but I'm not sure. Anyway, they take the Canadian whiskey and flag and leave their own flag and whiskey. They fight without firing a single shot." We stared at Sean for a moment longer. Kris hugged him then and whispered into his ear something that made Elouise giggle. Sean blushed but didn't say anything. "Anyway," I said, "thanks for that weird detour. But, I believe I know what's going on, here. I don't have everything. But, Killian, and Donte. They're being held in rotation. In return, the Rodriguez gets someone." "Who," Zack asked. "Sophia." They all blink. "I saw them last year. Most of you were kidnapped, but I saw them. They hated being down there with us under those circumstances. They were willing to fight. Willing to do anything they could to get their family back." "So," Zack said, "Why don't they just get Killian and Donte back when Sophia is here?" "I don't think they can," I said. "Something is happening. The Rodriguez needs The Nobility to fire the first shot." "Why, though," Elouise asked. I shrugged. "Don't know that yet. But, I believe that Cecily isn't the one seeing us and hearing us right now. If I'm right, then..." A lone howl echoed out in the distance. It was long. Followed by others. Howls on all sides. Lots of them. A chorus that reverberated through the entire building and chilled our blood. I didn't have nearly enough. "Shit," I snarled. Then I looked at Elouise, who was already stripping down. "Give a girl some privacy, damn!" Blushing, I turned so she could change for her shift. "Sorry," I said. "So, Crash brought us here as..." I stopped Zack in his tracks with that statement. "No." I snapped. "Crash didn't betray us. Not willingly. We're here to support him. I suspect he's going to need it when he gets back. But for the Rodriguez, we're here as fucking..." "....bait." Kris said. "Shit." "I don't get it," Zack said. "Why us? Why?" "Because of the one armed bandit running them over here," I said. "Remember?" "Verner Behring," Sean and Kris snarled. I nodded. "I get to shoot his ass this time," Kris snapped. I smiled. It probably looked like a half snarl though. "We'll see." "But still. They're big huge creatures capable of doing so much. Why worry about us," Zack asked. "Because," Sean said, staring out the window. "We shamed them. We kicked them out of our home. We invaded theirs. We even, like, disfigured their leader. They owe us." "Well, I hope I give them indigestion," Kris snapped. "I hope it's the screaming shits." "Don't freak out yet," Elouise said. "Stay in the hallway. Stay together. Mama's gotcha." She was in full warrior mode. Arms out, thick with scales and claws, her tail lashing from side to side, and a low growl in her throat. The monsters were quite literally scratching at the door. I had my pistol out in the low ready position. We were trapped in the hallway. Listening to the dying howls, and the sounds of splintering wood. |
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